Improvement in electroplating the interior of pipes and tubes with silver



P ATEN'IED APR. 25, 1871.

D. D. PARMELEE.

ELECTROPLATING THE INTERIOR OF PIPES AND TUBES WITH v SILVER, NICKEL, 8w.

w masses.

tiniidl giant anal cum.

Letters Patent No. 114,191, dated April 25, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTROPLATING THE INTERIOR OF PIPES AND TUBES WiTH SILVER, NICKEL, &c.

The Schedulereferred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom it may concern Be it known that I, Donors D. PARMELEE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Electroplating the Interior of Pipes or Tubes with Silver, Nickel, and other metals of which the following is a specification.

-The invention herein described relates to and is an improvement on the process for coating the interior of pipes, tubes, fits, with silver or other metal, for which Letters Patent of the United States, No. 108,510, were granted to me on the 18th October, 1870.

One of the principal features of the invention set forth in said Letters Patent is the employment of an anode placed within the pipe, but kept from contact with the interior of the same by means of suitable insulating devices, and moved gradually throughout the whole length of the pipe, so that every part of its interior surface shall in turn be coated with the metal which by electrical action is-depcsited thereon from the solution of the metallic salt with which the pipe is filled.

While this process is possessed of many advantages, it is, however, to be remarked that, as the anode is short compared with the length of pipe to be coated, considerable time is consumedin moving it opposite to each portion of the pipe and allowing it to remain there until a sufficient deposit or coating has been formed, and where the pipe is of great length-say thirty feet long-the operation is necessarily tedious.

The invention which I will now proceed to describe obviates this difficulty, and in other respects is an inn provement on the apparatus which I have described in my former patent.

The accompanying drawing represents the apparatus'which 1 now use in carrying my process into effect.

Figure 1 is a diagram of the apparatus complete.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the pipe and anode, illustrative of the mode of uniting or jointing together the anodes which aresus pended within the pipe to be lined or plated.

Figure 3 is a view of a portion of the vertical trough in which the pipe is suspended.

Figure 4 is a view of the drum on which the anode is wound, illustrating one mode in "which the connection with the battery may be made.

In carrying out my present invention I make use of an anode which extends the length or nearly the length of the pipe to be unease that but avery slight movement of the anode will be necessary in the operation ofplatiug." i

'ihisanod l prefer to make jointed, botli to facile,

itate the operation of putting it in and drawing itout from the pipe, and to allow it to adapt itself to whatever slight irregularities there may be in the pipe,

'which, when of any length, is frequently a little bent at one or. more points.

The difiiculty with a jointed anode, however, is to keep each of the different parts or sections of which it iscomposed from contact with the pipe, so as to insure perfect insulation; and to this end, I provide each section or part with two or more gutta-percha or other non-conducting washers, which fit around the section and project far enough beyond the surface of the same to prevent it from ever being brought in contact with the surface of the pipe; and as it is necessary to have a metallic connection between the anodes or sections 1 surround with gutta-percha or other non-conducting material the links which are used to make this connection, and thus entirely insulate them from the acid solution in the pipe.

A straight and unjointed metallic rod of a length equal or approximating to that of the pipe to be lined might be employed as an anode by insulating it at intervals of two feet, more or less, by means of washer of non-conducting material. But such ananode would be extremely inconvenient to use, as it would have to be first elevated above the pipe and then lowered into it, and, besides, it would be almost impracticable, aud at the best extremely troublesome and difficult, to get a perfectly straight pipeaud to make and keep straight the anode when of such length.

Aflexible anode for some solutions may be prepared by using a long bag filled with metal, and used like the jointed anode above mentioned.

I prefer, however, on many accounts, to use the jointed anode in carrying my invention into eli'ect, and 1 will, therefore, confine myself to'a description of such an anode in connection with the apparatus and process now to be described.

The anode consists of'a number of metal rods, a-- say twelve, more or less-depending upon the length of the pipe to be lined.

A good length for each rod is two feet, so that an anode composed oi'twelve of such rods placed two inches apart would he twenty-five feet ten inches long, and well adapted to be used with a pipe twenty-six feet or more in length.

The diameter of the rods will depend in a measure upon the caliber of the pipe. A rod, say, threecighthsof an inch in diameter, is adaptedto a pipe of iive or six-'eighths of an inch caliber. I

At or near each end of every rod 60 is a washer or ring, b, of gutta-percha or other'noh-comlucting substance, which surrounds and fits upon the rod.

or coating,- '01,

for other purposes.

. clasped tightly around the upper end of the These washers are'si'naller in diameter than the pipe, and they need, therefore, project from the sur-' face of the anode only sufliciently for this purpose;

They may, however, be constructed as described inv the Letters Patent above referred to, or in any other suitablemanuer;

The adjoining ends of the rods are united cop- 'per or other suitable links or connecting-wires, 0,

preferably about two inches long, and these links are insulated and kept from contact with the solution by means of a gutta-perchaor other suitable covering .applied to them in any appropriate manner;

f In this manner a jointed anode is formed which can be. placed in a pipe without danger 'of being brought into direct contact therewith.

The anode is operated by means of a drum,'D, or wheel of polygonal shape on its periphery, each side of the polygon being ofa length Tool-responding to the length'of one rod of the anode, while there is a space leftat the poirfts where the contiguous ends of the sides meet equal to the length of the links between the rods, so that the-anode. may be wcundupon the "drum with facility and may lie smoothly thereon.

The upper end of the anode is attached'to and suspended from the drum by snitablel'neans.

As the'weight of the anode is but slight, I use the connecting-wire i for the purpose.

, l he wire is connected with a binding-screw, k, on.

ter, G, placed between th'edrum and the battery,.

which is useful to indicate when insulation has been obtained and when the pipe is coated or lined, and

. One way in which the connection of the wire t and a" may be efl'ected is representedin fig. 4.

A copper sleeve, cf, is mounted on .and revolves with the axle of the drum. To this sleeve 'is united a copper wire or strip, 1), which-is united at the other end'to the binding-screw k on the periphery with 'the, wire or strip '5'.

On the sleeve (1' is loosely mounted an outersleevc, c, which does not revolve with the, drum, but is kept in contact with the inner sleeve by ineans of an Indiafrubbe'r spring, d1.

, ",The wire ,i' is connected, with the outer sleeve, and

' is thus put in communication with the wires.-

Beneath the point where the anode drops from the drum is arranged a vertical, or nearly vertical, trough, H, triangular in cross-section, into the angle of which the pipe 1 to be lined is placed. 7 c

, The pipe is there held by means of a clamp or collar, j; faced or lined with India, rubber, which is pipe and rests on the top of the triangular trough. The oh'ect of this trough is to get the lead pipe as nearly straight as possible, which is accomplished by suspending the pipe from the top ofand so that it will rest in the angle of the trough. The-trough when thus constructed is adapted to all sizes of pipes.-

The bottom of the pipe is closed by a stopper, m, of mctalor other suitable material, which communiof the drum, and communicates opened and the air will then escape from the jar J cates with a tube leading from a large and strong jar, J, holding the solution to be used.

To the top of the jar is attached'a small pipe, 8, which passes upwardtowhere the drum is located, and is there conducted to an air-force or compressingpump, N. v

Immediately below the pump, on the pipe, is a fancet or stop-cock, v.

The mode of operation is as follows:

The battery being arranged and the galvanorneter placed within the connection with the anode, the anode is lowered'within thepipe, (which has been previously suspended in the trough and put in communication with the reservoir or jar J, as :above explained,) and the connection of the negative wire of the battery with the lower. end of the pipe is effected, the galvanometer indicating whether or not the iusu-. lation is perfect.

This being ascertained, the workman above puts the air-pumpin motion and forces air. down upon the solution contained in the-jar J'.

This solution, which is a solution of the metal with which the pipe is to be lined, is thereby forced out from the lower part of the jar through the connect ing-pipe and stopper into the pipe, and the workman continues to force the air until the liquid is elevated to the top of the pipe and appears in the funnel w applied-to the same.

The stop-cock o is then closed and the deposition of metal upon the inner surface of the pipe commences, and is continued .until asuflicient coat has been deposited, the galvanometerindicating the degreeof perfection of theprocess. 2

The pipe is thus plated simultaneously throughout its whole length, except at the points where it is opposite the insulated links and nou-conducting washers. In order, therefore, to coat these portions of the pipe equally with the rest, the workman in the up per story revolves the drum so as to lift and lower the l anode about four inches every few moments. When the operation is closed the stop-cock 'v is into which the solution in the pipe will consequently immediately return, ready to be used again, as de-' scribed. Y

The bottom plug or stopper can then be removed and the pipe and anode washed, if desired, by pouring water downthe pipe;

The apparatus requires-but two men to operate it--one to make the necessary connections at the top and to operate that portion of the apparatus there located; the other to make the connections'and to take charge of such atthe bottom. The apparatus is of such height that when the lower part is-on the first floor of the house the upper part will be on the third or fourth floor, and'the workmen, therefore, necessarily communicate by signals or through a speaking-tube.

The galvanometer' may or may not be used with the apparatus; and inlieu of the special devices herein described for supplying the solution to the tube other suitable-means for filling and emptying the tube maybe employed;

Having now described my invention, and the mannor in which the same is or may be'carried-into eiiect,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat .ent, is as follows:

1. In the process of electroplating the interior of tubes by means of a movable anode, substantially as herein described, the employment of an anode placed within and extending the length or nearly the length of the pipe, and provided at intervalswith non-conducting washers which insulateit therefrom, substautially as and for the purposes set forth.

portions of the apparatus as are 2. A jointed anode composed of sections, each surtroplating the interior of pipes and tubes, substantially rounded at or near its top and bottom by a non-conas herein shown and described.

ducting washer-or ring, and connected with the sec- In testimony whereof I have signed my name to tions adjoining by means of insulated links or wires, this specification before two subscribing witnesses. substantially as and for the purposes herein shown Witnesses: DUBOIS D. PARMELEE. and described. M. BAILEY,

3. The general arrangement of apparatus for elec- EDM. F. BROWN. 

